Nikhil Dixit IM

Quick summary

Nice session — you converted multiple advantages and showed excellent endgame technique in your wins, while two losses highlight a recurring danger: allowing enemy passed pawns and promotion chances. Your short-term trend is very positive (strong rating gains last month/quarter). Below are targeted, practical suggestions to keep the momentum going in blitz.

What you're doing well

• Active piece play: you consistently bring rooks and bishops into the game and trade into favorable endgames instead of letting the opponent keep counterplay.
• Pawn play and passed-pawn creation: in several wins you pushed and fixed a passed pawn that decided the game — good recognition of when to convert a material/space edge.
• Simplification when it helps: you often swap down into endings you understand, then use king activity to win — that's a practical blitz skill.
• Opening breadth: you have a wide range of openings (Four Knights, Caro‑Kann, French etc.) and solid results in many of them — leverage that to steer games into types you like.

Key weaknesses to fix (focused and actionable)

• Preventing opponent promotion — defend the b‑pawn (and other passer pushes). In your loss to %3Ckillerbishop888%3E the opponent’s pawn promotion became decisive. When the opponent has a remote passed pawn, immediately ask: can I blockade it or trade it off before it queens?
• Rook endgame technique — work on basics like Lucena and Philidor ideas and the most common defence patterns. A few games ended because of an avoidable rook/king/pawn breakdown.
• Opening-specific trouble vs Sicilians — your win/loss record shows lower return vs some Sicilian lines. Pick one or two reply lines to study and memorize typical pawn-structure plans so you don’t drift into uncomfortable middlegames.
• Avoid tactical oversights around exchanged queens/rooks — when simplifying, double-check for enemy pawn breaks or hidden checks that create passed pawns.

Concrete moments from your recent games

• Win vs %3Cboutikaki%3E — you advanced the queenside pawn aggressively, opened lines for your bishop and rooks, and transitioned to a winning king-and-pawn finish. Good judgment to simplify when ahead. (Replay:
  )
• Win vs %3Cdetimmerman%3E and %3Cdinosaurioyogurt%3E — both games show consistent technique in creating passed pawns and using king activity to convert. Keep following this plan.
• Loss vs %3Ckillerbishop888%3E — opponent’s passed pawn promotion on the b-file decided the game. Preventative play (blockade/trade) and king centralization earlier would have helped.
• Loss vs %3Coleksandr_bortnyk%3E — ending shows risk of getting outplayed in the pawn ending; aim to keep pieces when you can’t stop a passer, or else force a repetition if the passer is unstoppable.

Targeted 4‑week blitz plan (practical and short)

Do this 3–5 times per week; each session ~40–60 minutes.

• Endgame drills — 2 x 15 minutes per session: rook endgames (Lucena/Philidor), defending against a passed pawn, king + pawn races. Use quick drills — repeat the same positions until conversion/defence feels automatic.
• Tactics — 15 minutes: focus on motifs that appear in your games (forks, discovered attacks, back-rank and removing defenders). Use a tactics trainer and set target solve times.
• Opening focus — 15–20 minutes: choose one troubled opening (for example, the Sicilian) and learn 2 concrete plans for both sides: typical pawn breaks and piece routes. Use Sicilian Defense and Four Knights Game as study anchors.
• Blitz practice — 10–20 games with a clear goal per game (e.g., “if position is equal, exchange into rook endgame and defend”, or “avoid allowing b‑file pawns to advance”).
• Post‑game micro review — 5 minutes per lost/won game: find the single decisive inaccuracy and note what pattern to remember next time.

Short checklist — before each blitz game

• Pick an opening line and a fallback plan (don’t improvise too much in first 10 moves).
• Watch for early pawn pushes that create far‑advanced passers — stop them before they become unstoppable.
• If you simplify, double‑check whether the resulting pawn structure leaves you a target (passed pawn, weak squares).
• Use 2–3 seconds to scan for tactical shots after every capture or exchange.

Practice drills (short list)

• 10 position drills: defend vs a single connected passed pawn — play both sides until defense is automatic.
• 5 Lucena/Philidor positions until you can execute within 60 seconds each.
• Tactics sprint: 10 puzzles in a row, try to average < 1 minute per puzzle.
• Opening memory: write down 5 typical middlegame plans for your top two openings and review them before play.

Data-backed encouragement

• Your Strength Adjusted Win Rate ~0.497 — you’re essentially at a 50/50 baseline versus appropriately-rated opponents; small fixes in endgames/opening lines will convert many of those into wins.
• Short-term rating slopes are excellent: 1‑month gain of 137 and strong 3‑month surge. That means your training choices are working — keep the focused work on endgames and one opening problem area.

Useful links & next steps

• Replay one of the wins:
• Study the opening you played in the first win: Sicilian Defense
• Review the loss vs %3Ckillerbishop888%3E and set one micro‑goal: “stop the b‑pawn”, then play 5 training blitz games with that restriction.

One‑line takeaway

Keep doing what already works (active pieces, simplification into endings) and focus 20–30% of your study time on defending/neutralizing passed pawns and rook endgame technique — that alone will lift your blitz conversion rate noticeably.